Botanical classification/cultivar denomination: Antirrhinum majus cultivar Balumwhitim.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Antirrhinum plant, botanically known as Antirrhinum majus, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Balumwhitimxe2x80x99.
The new Antirrhinum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Arroyo Grande, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new vigorous Antirrhinum cultivars that have a freely basal branching growth habit and numerous flowers with attractive coloration.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 2000 of a proprietary selection of Antirrhinum majus identified as code number 576-1, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with the Antirrhinum majus cultivar Layel, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,985, as the male, or pollen parent. The cultivar Balumwhitim was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by cuttings taken in Arroyo Grande, Calif. since May, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Antirrhinum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Balumwhitimxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Balumwhitimxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Antirrhinum cultivar:
1. Upright, outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. White-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Antirrhinum differ from plants of the parent selections in plant growth habit and flower coloration.
Plants of the new Antirrhinum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Lawhi, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,006. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in West Chicago, Ill., plants of the new Antirrhinum differed from plants of the cultivar Lawhi in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Antirrhinum were more upright than and not as spreading as plants of the cultivar Lawhi.
2. Plants of the new Antirrhinum had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Lawhi.
3. Plants of the new Antirrhinum had more flowering branches per plant but fewer flowers per flowering branch than plants of the cultivar Lawhi.